Process of degumming and preparing fibers



l UNITED STATES PATENT QFFICE.

IVALTER R. \VADE, OF BROOKLYN, NEV YORK.

PROCESS OF DEGUMIVHNG AND PREPARING FIBERS.

SPECIFIOAI EON forming part of Letters Patent No. 449,455, dated March 31, 1891..

Application filed May 22,1890. Serial No, 352,782. (No specimens.)

T0 coZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, ALTER R. \VADE, of Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York, have invented a new and use ful Improvement in Processes of Degumming and Preparing Fibers, of which the following is a specification.

My invention consists of a new process of degumming and preparing raw fibers derived from ramie, hemp, flax, &c., so as to fit them for the use of manufacturers in the production of the finesttextile fabrics, ashereinafter fully described and claimed.

In practicing my invention I take the fiber from any of these plants as it is removed by the decorticator, of which there are numerous varieties in the market, all more or less effective in decorticating the plantsthatis, peeling the bark containing the fiber from the same and separating it from the woody stems, in which condition the different fibers, notably ramie, can be had in the various markets of the world, although the fibers of flax and hemp are often still freed from their adherent woody stems by a different process.

Any of the above fibersIboilin an alkaline solution containing quillaia-bark, or else a deeoction of or extract made from quillaiabark. The principal ingredient of the quillaia -bark valuable in this process is the thing known as sa-ponin, and this isknown to exist in other plants than quillaia; and for the purposes of this invention I declare that these other plants are equivalents of the quillaia bark, though I prefer quillaia-bark. The proportion of potash or soda and quillaia-bark or its equivalent may be varied within considerable limits for any of the above-named fibers, and even with different samples of the same fiber should be varied to some extent, as the quantity and quality of the gum by which the fibers are agglutinated differ in these different plants and in the different lots of the same plants. A man skilled in the art of treating fibers will through the exercise of his acquired skill vary the proportions of the alkali and the quillaia-bark by observing its action upon each different lot which he is treating or preparing.

Ramie, for instance, may be prepared as follows: Take the decorticated fiber, as above one-half degrees of Baumes areometer, (temperature Fahrenheit,) to which has been added the decoct-ion or extract from one and one-half to two pounds of quillaia-bark to every one hundred gallons of the alkaline solution, the strength of the solution within the above limits varying according to the purity of the articles used, the amount of pressure employed, and the maturity reached by the plants from which the fibers have been obtained, which latter is easily known to the experienced eye. I give ramie for an illustration, as without its undergoing a previous chemical preparation the fiber is unsuited for the manufacture of the finer textile fabrics. As soon as this process has dissolved the gum from the fiber, whichis evident-from the separation of the fine fibers which compose the large fiber -strands in their raw state, I cleanse the fiber from the solution and gum by washing and pressing. .A very good way is to remove the fiber from the solution, wring it or press it until comparatively dry, then wash it, and finally wring or press out the water. I now immerse the fiber in a bath of acidulated water, making the bath of such strength as not to permit the acid to injure the fiber. (Sulphuric acid will do, taking about one pound of the ordinary commercial sulphuric acid to one hundred gallons of water.) After remaining in this bath usually only a few minutes I take the fiber out of the bath and bleach it by application of ordinary known bleaching agents. \Vhen the fiber is sufficiently bleached, I rinse it in water to remove the bleaching agent and then boil it in a weak alkaline bath containing soft soap or other equivalent saponaoeous material, until the fiber is sufficiently softened to be fit for use, and then allowit to cool gradually, after which I wash or rinse it and dry it, when it is ready to be made into threads or yarns by the manufacturers.

\Vhat I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

The herein described process of degumming and preparing raw fiber, consisting in boiling them in an alkaline solution containing quillaia-bark or a decoction or extract thereof.

\VALTER R. \VADE.

Witnesses: V

HENRY B. LOTHROP, GERTRUDE H. ANDERSON. 

